Friday, August 5, 2011

chichicastenango...

... it's where we'll be in 2 months! What?! You've never heard of it?!

Me neither.

It's in Guatemala. Jordan and I will be going with 10 others from our church. We'll be working with Pray America which is an amazing organization! Check out their website. Pray America focuses on the needs of the MANY widows and children in the area. Our team will be building houses for widows and participating in various feeding programs. We'll also just be building relationships and showing the people some love. Pray America has built over 600 homes, after which the women and children are invited to come to a weekly dinner followed by Bible study. Most of these women turn from their Mayan religion and become believers. The children are also fed and taught Bible studies. We've heard some awesome stories come out of this area! God is at work!!

We had been wanting to go on this Guatemala trip for a few months prior to officially signing up. As we dug into it a little more, though, we kind of got freaked out! During the final 'decision week', we were totally distracted and didn't give much thought and prayer to it. We had kind of just said, 'not now' until the night before we had to give our answer. When I came home that night, Jordan was doing a Bible study and he announced to me, 'we have to go'. We talked about it and realized that all of our 'reasons' not to go were actually 'excuses'. We believe that the devil was working hard that entire week to keep us distracted and, quite honestly, scared. We were scared to cover the cost of this trip, scared for Jordan to take off of work, scared to leave our kids, scared of how God might use us, and scared to commit time into our group and fundraisers. Even now as I write, I still have concerns. But we have both felt this nudging to go and we're just going to jump in and hope/pray for the best!

That being said, if you're a believer in prayer, will you pray for us and our team as well? And if you have a desire to give, let me know :) Our team would sure appreciate it!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

charlie's birthday


before haircut


during (obviously!)



after; 'Ta-da!'





















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to exercise...

...or not to exercise...

That has been the nagging question in my head! After the 25 k, I pretty much just quit! And I can tell. I haven't had as much energy or drive, I can tell that my eating habits have worsened, and my pants have gotten tighter. Darn it! Why did I quit such a good thing? Now I feel like I have gone backwards. Even though I haven't gained anything back, I can tell I am losing muscle. But Jordan and I are feeling motivated again to get into shape. I am doing the Grand Rapids Mud Run at the end of August so now I have something to work for. It's a 5k obstacle course through the mud. I am doing it with a team of 3 other mothers I know from church. Our team name is 'Muddy Moms'! I am super excited! So Jordan and I ran tonight (separately because Charlie was asleep!) and we feel like our mentalities have suddenly changed for the better! I have been making excuses all summer and now I am choosing....

....to exercise!

charlie's first

My baby boy is ONE! Charlie turned one on July 30. We had a party for him on Friday night with our family. I think he had a good time! He didn't really get the opening presents thing but he liked all of them and he has been playing with his new toys more than his old toys! He enjoyed digging into his chocolate cake but only with little bites at a time, he didn't get crazy with it! And when the cake was about 1/3 of the way gone, he pushed the plate away! We also hauled out our enormous slip-n-slide which the kids thoroughly enjoyed! That night we had 6 of our neices and nephews sleep over. We gave them pop, junk food, and popcorn while they watched PG-13 movies, and we let them stay up til 11:30! The next morning they were back at it on the slip-n-slide. After they left, we took naps and then went out to Grand Haven for the Coast Guard Festival. We didn't get to the carnival. We got food, walked the board walk, went to the beach and played in the water for awhile (which was amazing!!), then got ice cream. We walked back to where we had parked and let the kids play in the park until we got creeped out by all of the 15-20 somethings that were just sitting around in the playarea. Can't trust anyone these days.... The next day we had a pool party for Jordan's aunt and uncle that had come to MI from Iowa. So it was another busy weekend but very enjoyable.

Charlie is my smile-maker! He's always got a smile on his face which puts a smile on mine. He can say 'dada', 'mama', and 'no-no'. He likes to shake his head 'yes' and 'no'. He dances all the time lately when the girls play the piano or when Natalie sings about what she is doing (which is constantly)! Today I was telling Charlie to say 'mama' because he hardly ever does and he kept saying 'dada'. So then I'd tickle him and he was laughing harder than I've ever heard him before. I am just so sure that he knew what he was doing! He can do the sign for 'more' and he tries to say it as well. He gives me hugs everytime I get him from his crib. He loves his daddy and his sisters so much! I'll try to get kisses from him lately but he'll only kiss when he sees Jordan do it first, then he's all about it! In honor of Charlie's first birthday, I gave him his first haircut. He had quite a few fly-aways and especially long hair on the top of his head and at the ears. And now he's lost his baby look!

It has been so amazing to see Charlie grow up in his first year. I wouldn't trade one day of it. Why is it so hard for me to let go? When I think of how Charlie and I would cuddle while he ate, I want to cry because I long to do that again. And when I think of how we could just sit and stare into each others' eyes.... now he has no sit left in him! And the first time I met him.... I would do it all over again. Feeling him do sumersaults in my tummy.... Can you tell I have the 'baby itch' again?! (Don't get your hopes up!!) I just can't believe that God would entrust to ME these three children. That is so humbling! I better stop this sentimentalism now though before I start rambling! I know I've said this all before.

So... Happy First Birthday, Charlie love! You'll always be my little man.